Following vonbontee's suggestion that this deserved its own thread after I gave a choice of Paul Simpsons or George Simpsons in the "Choosing Between Two Things Things" thread, I'm starting one.

Three things to think about I think.

1) Which of the guest appearances is the most essential to the story/best?

For me the most essential is Ringo's. The whole story of that episode revolves around Ringo. Lisa becoming vegetarian. Hmmm... would have happened with or without Paul and Linda, they were just beautiful icing on the cake. The Be Sharps, always waiting to be done given all The Beatles' nods in The Simpsons.

The best? I love George pulling up in the car as The Be Sharps play on the roof of Moe's and commenting that it's all been done before. Pure Genius!

2) What are the best Beatles references in The Simpsons excluding the guest appearance episodes?

I really love the episode with Lisa becoming a vegetarian. I saw it when I was about 12 and that's when I first learned about Paul and Linda. I think it's cool that Paul only agreed to do the episode if Lisa stayed a vegetarian throughout the series, and she did!

The "B Sharps" episode is full of references. I have watched the George Harrison
part about a million times and I still laugh every time:

"Please don't bring your banjo back, I know where it's been.. I wasn't hardly gone a day, when it became the scene.. Banjos! Banjos! All the time, I can't forget that tune.. and if I ever see another banjo, I'm going out and buy a big balloon!"

2 March 20137.05pm

Linde

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The Ringo episode and the one with Flanders' Beatles room are probably my favourites.

I agree that the Ringo episode works best as an episode, and about Ringo being integral to the episode itself. The vegetarian episode is great too, one of my favourites, but like mja said, the Paul & Linda appearances aren't really necessary.

As for the George episode, it's a great love letter to the Beatles and to Beatles fans. I don't think it's a particularly funny episode, it's a bit gimmicky and obvious, and there are little things that irritate me, like the way the writers conflated Brian Epstein and George Martin. But I enjoy it if I don't think of it as a canonical episode. And the level of detail for Beatles obsessives is great - particularly the way the rooftop concert clothing is accurate, and the exactl parody of that famous "Get Back
" studio photo where they're all leaning dispirited against the mixing board.

I remember watching that Ned Flanders episode once, and didn't like it at all - I tend to dislike most post-2000 episodes. And I had a hard time believing that such a ultra-Christian like Flanders would ever forgive the Beatles for John's "more popular than Jesus" remark.

As for other Beatles references, there are two in a single episode that I mentioned in the Beatley Moments thread a few days ago. The episode where Krusty is reunited with his estranged rabbi father: There's a picture of the '64 Beatles flanking Krusty hanging on his office wall; and later on he tries to ingratiate himself at the Simpsons household by watching the Concert for Bangladesh videotape.

Someone said 'What were you gonna do when it's all finished,' and I said 'I don't know but it'd be good fun being a DJ.' And since then I've become a DJ, only by word of mouth, you know. SO any minute now you'll read, 'Ringo leaves to become a DJ' but it's not true. - Ringo Starr

3 March 20135.00am

exarctly

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Here is a topic for me! I love the Ringo one. It is really one of the best early episodes there is. Being that the show didn;t get downright hilarious till season 3. But season one had its charm, and two you cold really see that it was starting to hit its mark, and that episodes is one of the best.

Maybe this is of topic if you only wanted references in other episodes (and you guys probably caught these the first time), but as to references in the George episode (which I like a lot, as I do the Paul one).. I never caught these until after I watched the Anthology.... After they record Baby On Board, and the produced comes in and says you've just recorded your first number one.

And then when they replace Wiggum with Barney and the crowd is chanting Wiggum forever Barney Never.... Pete Best, Ringo.

There may have been one more as well. But I thought those were nicely clever and rewarding for fans, on top of the obvious other references. Plus, the idea alone of cloning elements of the Beatles journey with, of all things, a Barbershop Quartet, is hilarious... Not to mention how funny it makes the moment when Barney and his new exotic girlfriend show up to take Barbershop to strange new places (though of course, that misses the reality that Paul actually had done some music concrete before John actually...still, since most people don;t know that the joke is excellent, especially because of the idea of taking barbershop music to Strange psychadelic places.) Good topic.

Maybe someone can help me with this one. The idea that they wanted women to think that Homer was available... Is this in any way a reference to any mystery, rumor or controversy that developed regarding whether or not John Lennon
was married early in the Beatles career? For instance on the BBC sessions there is an interview in which they ask him about being divorced (and some clip in anthology is similar) and he says, something like, my wife doesn't think I'm divorced. I talk to her every day, or something like that)

3 March 20137.39am

vonbontee

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Yeah, Brian Epstein in the early days was always telling John to downplay the fact that he was married - for the very reason that the Be-Sharps' manager gave, more bluntly - and Cynthia was urged to keep out of sight frequently.

Actually now that I think of it, the Be-Sharps episode did have quite a few more laughs than I said upthread. (Grammy for "Outstanding Soul, Spoken Word or Barbershop Album"! "Look, 'Baby On Board'! Now people will stop intentionally ramming our car!" "Strati-who-vius?")
/
Oh, just thought of another references: Lisa's "Yellow Submarine
"-like reverie after the dentist gives her gas while installing her dental appliance. Also, in "Lisa's Pony", an exhausted Homer has a "slumberland" dream while driving and sleeping; and the soundtrack is a muzak-y "Golden Slumbers
".

Someone said 'What were you gonna do when it's all finished,' and I said 'I don't know but it'd be good fun being a DJ.' And since then I've become a DJ, only by word of mouth, you know. SO any minute now you'll read, 'Ringo leaves to become a DJ' but it's not true. - Ringo Starr

3 March 201311.32am

Gerard

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vonbontee said
Yeah, Brian Epstein in the early days was always telling John to downplay the fact that he was married - for the very reason that the Be-Sharps' manager gave, more bluntly - and Cynthia was urged to keep out of sight frequently.

Actually now that I think of it, the Be-Sharps episode did have quite a few more laughs than I said upthread. (Grammy for "Outstanding Soul, Spoken Word or Barbershop Album"! "Look, 'Baby On Board'! Now people will stop intentionally ramming our car!" "Strati-who-vius?")
/
Oh, just thought of another references: Lisa's "Yellow Submarine
"-like reverie after the dentist gives her gas while installing her dental appliance. Also, in "Lisa's Pony", an exhausted Homer has a "slumberland" dream while driving and sleeping; and the soundtrack is a muzak-y "Golden Slumbers
".

There are various websites with all of the Beatles references in the Simpsons, that's how I knew about them. It's funny. I had seen most of the episodes, but because I didn't know anything about the Beatles yet back then I didn't catch all the references. It's awesome that there are so many though.

4 March 20134.35am

exarctly

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vonbontee said

Actually now that I think of it, the Be-Sharps episode did have quite a few more laughs than I said upthread. (Grammy for "Outstanding Soul, Spoken Word or Barbershop Album"!

YES! So glad you came around! And I love the reference you remembered above there. Here are a couple more. I love when Lisa tells recalls that they beat out Dexy's Midnight Runners for the Grammy, and Homer replies "well you haven't heard the last from them"

And then when they are holding auditions for the Wiggum replacement... all of them are great, but particularly sweet is hearing Groundskeeper Willie singing Petula Clark's "Downtown" And of course the always funny singing words to an instrumental track where the words are just the title of the song... that is Jasper singing "Theme from a Summer Place"

Those moments crack me, consistently, up.

Other references... the vegetarian one, I think that Paul's first words about Lisa running away are "She's Leaving Home
" and then the Apu's Garden in the Shade. Thoguh that is more of a Ringo reference.

Here is one you may not know as much since I think it is in the special features. Paul reading backwards his recipe for a ripping lentil soup (hilarious by the way) I think in the features they have him read it forward and he says at the end "Oh, and by the way, I'm alive"

McCartney thought that was funny. And by the way, Nice Catch on the Golden Slumbers
sleepy music... in syndication, you know, they actually changed that melody so you don't recognize it. I am not sure, but my guess would be because it saves them money each time it airs or something.

4 March 20135.59am

vonbontee

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Not quite Beatles, but I do remember an old episode with a very sideburned Krusty the Clown in an old repeat of his show featuring "...what you've all been waiting for: Another long raga by Ravi Shanker!" *sitar begins* "Shankar!" "Shankar. Groovy, man."

Someone said 'What were you gonna do when it's all finished,' and I said 'I don't know but it'd be good fun being a DJ.' And since then I've become a DJ, only by word of mouth, you know. SO any minute now you'll read, 'Ringo leaves to become a DJ' but it's not true. - Ringo Starr

4 March 20137.41am

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I am almost as much of a Simspons fan as I am a Beatles fan (but I agree that it went downhill after season 12 or so, and what they're putting out these days is plain junk). As for Beatles references, I feel like there's one in every second episode. Of course the Be Sharps episode is the cream. One scene that I think of of the top of my head is Homer going to get a pair of glasses and the vendor offering him a pair that he tells him is the same model Yoko Ono wears, to which Homer replies something like "Yoko Ono? Forget it! She broke up the Plastic Ono Band!"

I knew about the ''Ringo has written a song'' one and the first one, but not the other 2. Thanks.

I was watching the last one and I was like ''hey, I understand those subtitles'' before realising they are Dutch *facepalm* Goodmorning Linde..

4 March 20134.48pm

vonbontee

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Please, please, this is about The Simpsons, not Family Guy! Family Guy posts would be better off on a thread of their own.

Someone said 'What were you gonna do when it's all finished,' and I said 'I don't know but it'd be good fun being a DJ.' And since then I've become a DJ, only by word of mouth, you know. SO any minute now you'll read, 'Ringo leaves to become a DJ' but it's not true. - Ringo Starr

4 March 20135.07pm

Linde

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What about a ''Beatles references in animated series thread'' though?

4 March 20137.41pm

vonbontee

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Sure, why not? Go ahead and start one!

Someone said 'What were you gonna do when it's all finished,' and I said 'I don't know but it'd be good fun being a DJ.' And since then I've become a DJ, only by word of mouth, you know. SO any minute now you'll read, 'Ringo leaves to become a DJ' but it's not true. - Ringo Starr

5 March 20137.24pm

Linde

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Since there are plenty of references in The Simpsons, and people already started posting Family Guy references in that thread too, I thought ''Hey, why not start a thread in which we can post references in all series.'' Well, at first I thought about animated series but then I thought ''why not all kinds of series'' so here you go.

5 March 20138.50pm

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A few weeks ago, there was some guy on Ellen who brought up Meat Free Monday and how Paul McCartney
started it.

In an episode of the Nanny, Fran says how she always thought Lucy in the Sky went "a girl with colitis goes by." There are a lot of The Nanny episodes with Beatles references.

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